Graphic novels — to read in print or e-book?

• Posted in About Books, Superhero Stuff

So a couple of months ago, the e-book for Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuña was on sale. The story sounded interesting, and I always like a bargain, so I downloaded it to read on my tablet.

Black Widow The Name of the RoseHmm. It was an interesting experience.

The story was good, and the art was cool. Overall, I enjoyed the graphic novel, and I’d recommend it to Black Widow fans or those who enjoy the Marvel universe and its characters.

But reading a graphic novel isn’t quite the same as reading a print novel on an e-reader. Which was something that I had never considered before.

For one thing, there seemed to be a set limit as to how big I could make each page. I was a little disappointed by that, as it made some of the dialogue a bit hard to read. I could tap on each individual panel and make them bigger that way, but with three or four or more panels on a page, that got a little tedious at times. I don’t have an iPad, but I imagine that if I had read the graphic novel on it, I would have had a better experience, as that screen would have been bigger than my tablet one.

So lesson learned. In the future, I’ll probably stick with print versions of graphic novels, just so I can see everything better.

What about you guys? Do you read graphic novels and comics on your e-reader or tablet? Why or why not?

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18 Responses to “Graphic novels — to read in print or e-book?”

  1. Jennifer @ The Book Nympho says:

    Last year I tried to read one from Netgalley on my NookColor and I had the same issues. Not good.

    But my hubby reads The Walking Dead comics on his iPad and it’s very different. It’s much easier to read the comics on it. But still when it comes to comics print is better than electronic.

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Yeah, I think an iPad (or a larger tablet) would be the way to go if you want to read comics in an e-format. Some of those panels can be really tiny.

  2. Rachel Vance says:

    It’s different. It’s too hard to get the panels the right size and most of the time you have to read or see a certain amount of panels together for it to make since. Having something the size of an ipad makes it easier though. Right now I’m reading the new Firefly comics in ereader form from Dark Horse as they come out each month, just because I couldn’t wait. When they are finished with the storyline, I know they’ll put it out in hardback graphic novel form and then I will have to buy the hardback version. Because it’s Firefly and I must have it!

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Yeah, I think you would have to have an iPad or larger tablet to be able to make all the panels big enough. And I prefer to wait until a whole story is bundled together in a trade paperback. Those cliffhangers make it hard to wait for the next comic to come out. LOL.

  3. Sam Smith says:

    I would love to read print comics it’s the feel of something in your hand. Being able to turn a page, It’s not the same with reading them on my ipad. Unfortunately I have to wait until they come out as books as we do not have a comic book store where I live and getting one to post to me is a pain. So I either have to wait (not easy) or grit my teeth and read on my ipad.
    It is easier to read on ipad by the sound of it than your tablet. I am trying to get use to digital versions of a mag I have delivered as by the time it reaches me it’s old news. It is cheaper but it’s just not the same. 🙁

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Yeah, I like print books for that reason too, although having an e-reader is really convenient. At least you can download stuff when you want it, instead of having to wait for a book/comic to ship to you.

  4. John Frazier says:

    I definitely prefer print versions for the same reasons. of course I use the Kindle app on my iPhone. Graphics and dialogue balloons don’t really show up that well on a 4 inch screen

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Yikes! I can’t even imagine trying to read a comic on a phone. It would be like one panel at a time, right?

  6. Rosebrier says:

    The free kindle app for mac (and I assume for PC) used to let you download comics so you could read them on your computer screen and that worked really well but recently switched so you couldn’t (I was able to read first Sandman Overture but not the second one and couldn’t redownload first). Kind of annoyed because now I can’t really read a lot of comics I bought off Amazon since my kindle screen is too small.
    Humble Bundle has been selling a lot of comics at HD PDF recently (had Image bundle couple weeks ago and last week was a bunch of Doctor Who comics). Those look really good on the computer and are easy to get to a nice reading scale.

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      I didn’t think of trying to read it on my computer, but that’s a good idea. Thanks for the tip.

  7. Cindy Ann Snider says:

    I agree that a graphic novel in my opinion, is something I need to hold in my hands and read. Perhaps because I grew up reading print comic books and it’s not only easier but kinda nostalgic!

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      There is a nostalgia factor too. I love going to my local comic book store, chatting with the owner, checking out the new titles, etc.

  8. E. Murphy says:

    I prefer paper books for anything that has images I care about; craft books, graphic novels, and children’s books I almost always buy the “real” version.

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      I hadn’t thought about craft books, but those would be good/better in print too. So would illustrated kids’ books.

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Manga is another genre where the print book would probably work better for me.

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